Chapter Twelve
The Pyroxene Heart
Two days had passed since Claves had died and the others had left for Baroque. Only Frèdèric and Beat were at the funeral. Polka had returned to Tenuto and Allegretto had said something about taking a walk somewhere. Chopin figured "somewhere" meant Tenuto. He was right, Allegretto was walking down the beach, heading for Polka's home. Suddenly, something in the sand caught his eye. He bent over to pick it up. It was a small, heart-shaped stone with a blueish tint. Beat always liked odd looking things and this could make a good present for him. Allegretto tossed the stone in the air, caught it, and put it in his pocket, whistling as he did so.
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Polka had returned home the same day that Jazz and his companions had departed. Her mother had been outside their house, tending to some flowers.
"I'm back." Polka had said. Harmony dropped everything to embrace her only child.
"Cello found you!" She had exclaimed.
"What?!"
The two spent half the night talking, but Harmony never mentioned that she could use magic and would die soon and Polka did not talk about the incident at Cabasa Bridge or the run-in with Dulce and her crew. Polka thought it was nice, and somewhat out of character for Cello to visit her mother. It shocked her to learn that he had been a slave for Dulce, but she did not know that was a lie Cello had told. The next two days made Polka feel like she had never left. She spent her time watering, moving, and checking on flowers, as she often had before. That evening she was sitting in the spot where she had first met Frèdèric and her adventure had begun. She stuck her hands in her pockets as she looked down on Ritardando and became a bit frightened when she realized her lucky stone was missing. Suddenly a stick snapped behind her and Polka turned around. It was Allegretto.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly, "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's all right. Where are the others?" Polka asked, meaning Chopin and Beat.
"They're fine. Well, Beat lost his camera and he's pretty bummed out about that."
"Have you ever heard some of the old stories?" Polka asked, changing the subject.
"Which ones?"
"Cello the Hero."
"Of course." Everyone knew the story of Cello the Hero. He had been a man who had lived over 200 years ago. Single-handedly, he had fought off an army invading Forte. The army had been led by Treble the Black-Hearted, an incredibly evil, power hungry man. Legend said that Treble totally destroyed the world, but Cello realized that his heart was good, Treble's opposite. Other stories told of how everyone in the world has an opposite and if someone rises to power, his opposite can cancel out all the evil that that person has done by killing the evil opposite and then dying themselves. Cello the Hero did just that and saved the world from destruction. It was a nice story, but no one believed it anymore. "Why are you thinking about fairy tales?" Allegretto asked. Polka did not answer.
"Look at that." She pointed down to Ritardando. "I told Frèdèric once that the city lights did not look as bright as they used to, but look at them now." Allegretto looked, making sure not to get too close to the cliff edge. It seemed like every light in the port town was on and shining.
"Everyone's probably worried about this war." He said. "Why do you think Waltz is doing all this?"
"Well, Jazz said that Waltz wanted to find glowing agogos, maybe Baroque has a lot of them."
"Yeah, but they only live in Agogo Forest." Allegretto repied, sticking his hands in his pocket.
"Oh. That's right." Polka sighed. "It's a horrible world we live in. Maybe I should just jump off this cliff. Maybe there's a new life waiting for me. A life without sickness and war." Allegretto suddenly had a vision of Polka falling through the air.
"No! Don't do it!" He cried.
"Did you think I'd really jump off? Even if I don't have long to live I'm not going to do something as stupid as that. But thank you anyway for wanting to stop me." Allegretto blushed. "Alright, how about I have my special rock jump- Oh, never mind." She finished sadly.
"What?" Allegretto asked, curious.
"When I was little," Polka explained, "I found this rock that I thought, um, well..." She was obviously embarrassed. "I thought that it was given to me by someone I loved. It was really strange looking. Anyway, I've always carried with me, but I most have lost it when Prince Crescendo saved me." Allegretto pulled the stone he had found on the beach out of his pocket.
"It couldn't have looked stranger than this rock." He said. "Here," he extended his hand, "You keep it. Hold on to this one in the place of the one you lost. And, uh, don't lose this one. It's the first girl I've ever given to a gift- I mean-" Polka laughed.
"Don't worry. I'll keep this stone."
"Good. I'll be seeing you around I guess. Good night."
"Good night!" Polka called as Allegretto walked away. She looked down at the stone in her hand. It looked exactly like her previous special rock. I can't believe there are two rocks shaped exactly the same. She thought. No, this is the same rock. It's been mine forever, I should know what it feels like. I thought this rock was lucky because I thought it was given by someone I loved and now Allegretto's given me the exact same rock. Does that mean...
"A treasure from someone I loved." She whispered to herself. "A treasure from Allegretto."
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Frèdèric was returning to the boys' hideout when a large man in soldier's uniform ran up to him and began talking.
"I'm looking for volunteers to join Forte's army." The man said. "Men between the ages of 16 and 25." Chopin could tell by the man's tone of voice that "volunteers" really meant "draftees." "I heard that there are some street urchins that age around here. Have you seen them?"
"Sorry," replied Frèdèric, "I'm not from around here."
"Oh." The soldier walked away and Chopin realized something. We have to leave Forte Kingdom.
